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Tue 22 October 2024| View online Estimated reading time: 4-5 minutes |
| | | MEPs and Council to kick off talks on soil health law |
| The first round of talks between the Parliament and Council on the EU’s first soil law will take place in Strasbourg today (22 October) at 15:00 - but it will only last 45 minutes, as it is an introductory session. The Parliament's rapporteurs, Slovakia's Martin Hojsik (Renew) and Germany's Maria Noichl (S&D), will meet negotiators from the Hungarian Council Presidency.
Environment MEPs gave the green light to start trilogue talks with the Council on the soil monitoring yesterday evening.
Getting the legislation back on track With this proposal, the Commission wanted to put soil on the same legal footing as air and water, which have specific EU legislation. However, the text has been criticised by several lawmakers and campaigners for "lacking ambition". More than 60% of EU soils are in an unhealthy state, according to the Joint Research Centre, the Commission's research arm.
You can check our article on the Parliament’s position here.
Both the Parliament's and the Council's positions watered down the European Commission's original proposal, which was presented in July 2023. Member States are pushing for more flexibility in the implementation of the rules and scrapping a voluntary certification scheme for healthy soils. For all the details, read this article by Sofia and Maria.
Meanwhile, the Parliament is proposing to remove obligations to define and implement sustainable soil management practices. These changes were praised by EU farm lobby COPA as a "more pragmatic and realistic version" of the Commission's proposal. |
| | | Slovaks see risk of losing rural funds… |
| Today (22 October) the Slovak delegation will present a last-minute note for discussion at the AGRIFISH Council, saying that 11 EU countries "face an imminent risk of automatic decommitment" of rural development funds.
Funds committed in 2021 must be used by 31 December 2024 "or they will be decommitted", the note warns, due to “circumstances beyond the control of Member States”. The note recalls the "enormous efforts" made by the EU capitals concerned to avoid losing funds "intended for our farmers" and asks for the Commission's help in finding a “common and effective solution.” |
| … But the solution could be at hand |
| In what is probably no coincidence, the European Commission yesterday unveiled a proposal to allow member states to redirect some of the EU's structural funds, including the Rural Development Fund, for emergency aid to help member states hit by natural disasters.
"These proposals come as a direct response to the floods affecting Central and Eastern European countries and wildfires in Portugal in September 2024," the European Commission said in a press release. The floods caused by Storm Boris affected Poland, Romania, Austria, Czechia, Hungary and Slovakia.
But the proposed flexibility to use unspent rural development funds for 2014-22 to provide direct support to farmers, forest holders and food processing SMEs (which Angelo wrote about last Thursday) is likely to be welcomed by a number of member states.
According to the estimates from the European Commission's Structural Funds data portal, an average of 87% of EU payments for the 2014-2022 rural development plans have been spent. This rate is below the EU average in Slovakia, Bulgaria, Malta, Denmark, Italy, Cyprus, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Greece and Lithuania, presumably the 11 member states mentioned in the Slovak note. |
| | | Member states double down on ‘mirror clauses’ |
| In a discussion on the challenges facing the EU food chain, several national delegations at the AGRIFISH Council yesterday (21 October) reiterated calls for a tougher stance on agrifood trade, regretting that EU farmers face "higher" production standards than their competitors in third countries.
France, Spain and Croatia in particular called for the introduction of "mirror clauses" to ensure a level playing field in trade agreements, a view echoed by countries such as the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland and Romania.
Meanwhile, Denmark and Germany urged the EU to maintain an open approach to trade. Danish Agriculture Minister Jacob Jansen said mirror clauses could act as "damaging" trade barriers for the "least developed countries" and called instead for the use of alternative systems under WTO rules.
Addressing the Council, Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski warned that progress in promoting the EU's higher standards around the world could be "slow" and "limited". |
| France, Austria slam Mercosur |
| Attending her first AGRIFISH, France’s recently appointed Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard reiterated that Paris remains “evidently” opposed to the trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
“We are particularly concerned about the fact that Mercosur (...) can bring in products that do not comply with the environmental rules of the European Union,” she told journalists ahead of the meeting.
Her stance was backed by Austria’s Norbert Totschnig, who said that his country was open to trade agreements as long as they included “sustainability criteria”, a condition he believed the potential deal with South American countries did not meet.
“This is an old-school agreement, from the 1990s,” he added, recalling that the Viennese government was bound by a parliamentary resolution against the agreement in its current form.
Instead, Spanish Agriculture Minister Luis Planas said he expected on-going negotiations with the Mercosur bloc to lead to a “swift and balanced” conclusion of the deal, which he added was of strategic importance for the EU. |
| | | Spain defends agreements with Morocco |
| Spain's Agriculture Minister Luis Planas has defended the country's relations with Morocco after a ruling by the bloc's top court annulled fisheries and agriculture agreements between the North African kingdom and the EU.
The implications of the ruling for agricultural trade and fisheries partnerships are discussed in this article by Sofia.
"The relations, the union and the common work that the European Union and Morocco share are more important than the outcome of this ruling," Planas told journalists yesterday (21 October) on the sidelines of the AGRIFISH Council in Luxembourg. He added that Spain remained interested in "deepening its strategic relationship with the Kingdom of Morocco".
In a similar vein, EU leaders meeting in Brussels last week stressed that it was up to the European Council (EUCO) and the Council to define the bloc's foreign policy. |
| Ministers push to reduce protection for seals and cormorants |
| At the AGRIFISH Council yesterday (21 October), several member states called for the protection of seals and cormorants to be reduced, blaming them for damage to fish stocks, but the Commission refused to change existing European rules for the time being. Hugo has the details. |
| | | | Ljubljana – Slovenia to update national nutrition labelling scheme Slovenia has notified the EU of an update to its front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme. The existing 'Protective Food' logo, introduced in 1992 by the Slovenian Society for Cardiovascular Health to help consumers make healthier food choices, will become part of the new national 'Good Choice' (Dobra Izbira) scheme. The new logo will retain the heart-shaped image, but it will now be green. The voluntary scheme will cover nuts, milk, yoghurt, plant-based drinks, soft drinks, cereals including breakfast cereals, bread, pasta and poultry.
Dublin – Ireland launches organic farming support scheme Ireland has opened for applications the National Organic Scheme 2025 and the Organic Processing Investment Grant. “Support comes not only in the form of very attractive scheme payments, but also through funding for promotion to drive increased consumer sales volumes,” said Minister Charlie McConalogue, recalling Dublin's aim to more than triple the wholesale value of Irish organic production "to €750 million by 2030". Operators in the dairy, horticulture and arable sectors will be given priority access to the Organic Farming Scheme, the Agriculture and Food Development Authority said in a press release. |
| | | | | Today’s brief was brought to you by Euractiv’s Agrifood team |
| | | Today’s briefing was prepared by the Agrifood team; Angelo Di Mambro, Maria Simon Arboleas, Sofia Sanchez Manzanaro, and Hugo Struna. Share your feedback or information with us at digital@euractiv.com. |
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